#prickle ball

[stimtoybox]

[image description: two photos of various baby sensory shape toys, which are coloured vinyl three-dimensional shapes with protruding, rounded prickles, like that of a massage ball/prickle ball. The first photo is of an in-store shelf-display with bright red rectangles, pink pyramids, green stars and turquoise balls sitting in  cardboard box, loose and able to be grabbed. The second photo is a close-up shot of a pink pyramid sitting on a red watermelon slice pillow. The toy is slightly crooked, with the tip of the pyramid curving to one side.]

Hello Sunshine Sensory Shapes - K-Mart, $3 AUD.

Dimensions of pyramid: 7.5 cm across at base x 9 cm high at upmost point.

Variations: turquoise ball, green-yellow star, pink pyramid, bright red rectangle and blue square.

I needed to get out of the house, so I walked over the local shopping centre and just strolled around K-Mart. I keep forgetting to check the baby section, which I shouldn’t, because today I found a bunch of sensory balls and shapes.

When I picked this up, I couldn’t put it down. I actually ended up stuffing my Tangle Jr in my coat pocket and just wandered around the shop stimming with this in my hands. I keep getting distracted from writing this post by wanting to handle the pyramid, and even when I am typing, I have the pyramid propped between both legs so the prickles press into my skin when I jig my legs about (which I always do while typing).

I own other prickle balls, yes. This one is a bit squishier and has protruding bristles that are comfortably rounded, but it’s the shape that makes this amazing. It has prickles on all sides, but the five flat planes means it fits really well into my hands--I can wrap my one hand about it so I’ve got prickles from two different angles poking into my thumb. Whereas a ball curves away, leaving less of my skin in contact with the prickles, this can be angled so I’ve got at least two planes pressing into skin. The flat planes, too, mean it won’t roll away like a ball does. Given that I use these toys to massage my hands to help with chronic pain, to have one that fits this comfortably is amazing.

My toy is slightly crooked, but this makes it curve even better into my hand. I have no criticisms to make here, save perhaps for the colour and a small rectangle of missing prickles on the base (to make room for a barcode). The shape, the squishiness, the rounded prickles--it’s perfect. I love this so much, it’s going straight into my main stim basket as soon as I rearrange everything to make it fit.

This will best suit stimmers who like or need massaging stims, but if you do, I really recommend these.

[stimtoybox]

This is a collection of lovely stimmy things @ambiguouspieces gave me for my birthday. Because I don’t want to look up the prices and links for items that were gifted, I’m just going to talk about my experience with these in one long post. I’ll mention where I think something came from or where I know it can be found, and apologise for causing anyone interested extra work in tracking these down.

(Thank you so much, @ambiguouspieces, for some very lovely things!)

Eric Mini Peach Squishy

Dimensions: approximately 4 cm across.

I believe this came from Banggood, based on the barcode on the clear plastic bag. This squishy is the smallest squishy I’ve ever seen, and easily the slowest rising. I had time to press it down with my thumb and then pull out my camera and take the fourth photo. It’s great for squishing and rising.

It is scented, and it is clearly fake peach, but it isn’t horrifically fake smelling and not too strong. The foam is almost slightly rubbery, like a mochi squishy, but still smooth, and the surface is embedded with tiny glitter particles, making it shine in the sun or under electric light. Unfortunately, the plastic loop attaching the ball chain to the squishy is already starting to tear away, so I can’t recommend it for keychain use, and it may not be that durable. I do love it, though, especially for people wanting small, subtle squishies.

Watermelon Squishy

Dimensions: 14 cm long, 7 cm wide.

Also from Banggood, I’m sure. This is also really slow-rising for an unbranded squishy, but not as slow as the peach or my apples. It’s a white squishy with a red and green coating, so it’s very smooth and glossy to stroke, quite unlike most squishies. So far, the coating shows no sign of wrinkling or tearing when pressed down.

The smell is quite strong, a kind of sugary bread smell that makes my nose sting. Most of my unbranded scented squishies have aired out over time, so I’m hopeful this one will as well, but it’s strong enough that I can’t leave it on my desk if I’m not using it.

Green Prickle/Massage Ball

Dimensions: approximately 9 cm across.

This one came from The Reject Shop. It’s a lot softer than my Daiso balls and twice the size. The nubs are quite rounded (again more so than the Daiso balls) and I think this would be great for stimmers wanting a very gentle massage. Even the Daiso balls can cause a pressing pain when rolled over a joint, and while this is a sensation I seek out as a distraction from my hand pain, it isn’t always comfortable. This softer ball is less massaging, but also less painful.

Unlike the Daiso balls, it also bounces well, so it has utility as a regular sports or bouncing ball.

I’m glad to have this, actually, because I’ve seen these balls and they’ve been on the “want to play with but cannot justify” list!

Blue Galactic-Print Spinner and Case

Dimensions: standard tri-shaped spinner size.

Both from Banggood! I’ve reviewed these cases before, and I think they’re great, especially for decorative or printed spinners like these. This one is actually nicer than my original one, as the zip is a little less stiff.

The spinner is gorgeous. There’s one scratch in the paintwork, but the rest of it is perfect. It spins for just on two minutes, which places it among my better spinners, but it wouldn’t matter if it spins poorly, as it’s just so pretty. It’s not as quiet as my Zuru spinner, but it isn’t excessively loud.

Coloured Scale-Print Knock-Off Artist Collection Tangle Jr

I know this particular Tangle has been covered fabulously by several people! Like my Galactic Tangle Jrs, it’s smooth to use and easy to coil, so it’s far above most fakes in terms of quality. (I really appreciate a fake that doesn’t require lubrication for me to use.) Like others have mentioned before me, mine also has a lot of areas where the pattern didn’t properly print on the white Tangle underneath. Compared to the galactic print Tangles, I’d say there’s an equal amount of failed printing, but the white star pattern makes it much less obvious than it is on the scaled print.

My only real disappointment is that most of the scales are blue or green; I’d have preferred a more even, rainbow-like distribution of colour. It’s still very colourful, though, and I keep it displayed on my desk.

Image description under read more cut:

[image description: four photos taken on a red watermelon slice pillow showing five different stim toys: a green vinyl prickle/massage ball marked by rows of plastic knobs; a red and green watermelon squishy shaped like the curved quarter slice of a watermelon, the red inner flesh scattered with printed green seeds; a tiny yellow peach-shaped squishy with a green leaf, gold ball chain attachment and orange blushing on top and bottom; a galactic/night sky plastic tri-spinner printed with white stars on a blue-fading-into-cobalt background, sitting inside a black triangular spinner zip-case; and a Tangle Jr Artist’s Collection fake, printed with an array of coloured hexagons in various blues, greens, yellows, oranges, reds and browns, the hexagons separated from each other by a thin white border.

First photo shows the toys, three of them packaged: the watermelon squishy sits inside a clear plastic bag with a white barcode sticker resting on the front, the Tangle sits inside a clear plastic bag with a yellow trim reading “toys” in coloured letters, and the peach squishy sits inside a clear plastic bag and a pastel pink cardboard heart-cut-out decorated with white roses, pink leaves and yellow streamers.

Second photo shows the toys, unpackaged, sitting in the pillow. The spinner is sitting beside the black case, not inside.

Third photo shows the peach on its own, the side bearing three different finger indentations where it has been pressed down into the pillow.

Fourth photo shows the watermelon on its own, the red flesh side bearing four different indentations where it has been pressed down into the pillow.]

[stimtoybox]

hey! i love ur blog a lot & i know u have some aussie mods so i was wondering if u could help me? do u know of any physical places to buy stim toys in aus? specifically tangles, squishies, chewies, & textured (bumpy/rigid) things? alternatively, do u have any good online shops/links that ship to aus?

Thank you so much for the compliment! Yes, we can absolutely help. Mod Rainbow and I (Mod K.A.)are both Aussie and invested in trying to make stim toys more accessible forAussies - part of the reason I started this blog was because few people at thetime were talking about places Aussies could buy stim toys that didn’t involvedollar conversion and international shipping costs.

We tag by country of toy origin (not countries to which toys ship) so youmight wish to check out our Australia tag forlocally-sourced toys. We’re now up to twenty pages of posts! Note that I amVictorian (regional Western Victoria, close to Melbourne) so that a lot of my resources tend to skew Victorian. ModRainbow is based in QLD, and I’ll ask them to add to the post if they have anylocal offline sources that I haven’t covered.

But, to answer your question more specifically, I’ll go by store and listthe things they sell. Links below go to that store’s tag or a post featuringthat item. Please note that it might be worth checking on the store’s tag, as all these stores stock many more stimmy things that don’t quite meet your brief for the toys you’re after - everything from bouncy balls and poppers to wooden puzzles and bubble wands.

Also note that dollar stores right now are stocking spinners and knock-off fidget cubes as well as the usual range of hedge balls/hedge creatures, bouncy balls and knock-off slinkies. There’s lots of things available in the toy, stationery and party sections, often for inexpensive prices.

First, offline (or offline and webstore) Australian stores:

Toyworld

(Store locations: Australia-wide, mostly on the East Coast.)

Tangles: $6 AUD for Tangle Jr, Jr Textured, Jr Fuzzy, Jr Metallic; $10 AUDfor Jr Textured Metallic; $10-$15 AUD for Tangle Hairy.

Hedgecreatures: $2 AUD

Snake puzzles: $6 AUD

Mind Games

(Store locations: Victoria, Tasmania, QLD)

Tangles: $10 AUD for Tangle Jr and Tangle JrTextured

Queen Victoria Market

(Located in the Melbourne CBD, Victoria.)

Squishies: $3-5 AUD each.

Daiso

(Store locations: Melbourne and Sydney.)

Wooden Nuts and Bolts: $2.80 AUD for three

Zenshin Massage Roller: $2.80 AUD

Silicone Face Scrubber: $2.80 AUD

Prickle/Massage/Sports Balls: $2.80 AUD for two

K-Mart

(Store locations: Australia-wide. Also allows online purchasing.)

Plastic Jointed Snakes: $2 AUD for four

Mini Massage Balls: $2 AUD each

Makeup Blending Sponges: $3-4 AUD each, depending on shape (squishy alternative)

Silicone and Water-Filled Teethers: $2 or $4 AUD each

Mini Snake Puzzles: $1 AUD each

Sensory Oasis for Kids

(North Altona, Melbourne. Also allows online purchasing with flat-rate shipping in Australia for $9.95 AUD.)

Chewigem Dog Tag Pendant Necklace: $22 AUD (Click here for entire Chewigem range.)

Twiddle: $12.95 AUD

Wooden Puzzle Stick: $2.95 AUD

Tangles: $9.95 AUD for Tangle Jr, Tangle Jr Textured, Tangle Jr Metallic, Tangle Jr Fuzzy, Tangle Jr Textured Metallic; $12.95 for Tangle Hairy.

Smiggle

(Store locations: Australia-wide. Some items for sale online.)

Mini Snake Puzzle: $7 AUD (often on sale at 2 for $7 AUD)

Large Snake Puzzle: $14 AUD (often on sale for $7 AUD

Serpent Puzzle: $14 AUD (often on sale for $7 AUD. Note: not available online, but I have still seen these available in offline stores).

Kidstuff

(Store locations: Australia wide, mostly on the East Coast.)

Hairy Tangle: $14.99 AUD

Second, Australia-based webstores:

Sister Sensory

Source for: Chewables, Tangles, Fidgets

No shipping price listed on their website, so it seems they calculate based on weight.

The Therapy Store

Source for: Chewables, Tangles, Fidgets

No shipping price listed on their website, so it seems they calculate based on weight. 

Skillbuilders

Source for: Chewables, Tangles, Fidgets

Shipping is calculated based on the value of your order. $0-$25 is $8.25 AUD shipping; $25-$50 is $14 AUD. I do not recommend this as a good way of determining shipping, since it’s possible via this metric to purchase two chew pendants, which are light, and pay $14 AUD to ship both when they’d both fit in Australia Post’s under 250 gram weight bracket.

Third, international sources:

Stimtastic

Source for: Chewables

Despite being located in the US, I really recommend Stimtastic as a source for chewables. This is because Australian stim toy/OT stores only tend to stock Chewigem and ARK Therapeutic chewables, which are usually priced around $20-$22 AUD plus shipping (usually around $10 AUD … thanks, Australia Post). Stimtastic’s chewables are $10 USD or less, so even by the time you pay dollar conversion and international shipping, you’re still often saving money. Depending on the chewable in question, sometimes you can even get two items for the same price as one purchased here in Australia.

(Because of issues of weight, there’s other items that I wouldn’t purchase from Stimtastic and would try to source here in Australia instead, but the chewables are too well priced not to purchase from this store, even with international shipping. Plus the shipping is quick!)

Banggood

Source for: Squishies

Most things have free standard international shipping. Despite shipping from China, I’ve had everything I’ve purchased so far arrive in three weeks or less. There’s a range of squishies available here, from only a few dollars each to $10 AUD and more for the larger, higher quality squishies. Not paying shipping makes their offerings that much more affordable and I’ve had no problems with the items I’ve bought.

eBay

Source for: Squishies, Tangles, Spinners, Knock-off Fidget Cubes

A great many of these things also have free standard international shipping from China, Hong Kong, the Philippines. Please note that quality varies widely and most of these things (especially the cheaper free shipping options) are knock-offs. (Check out this post of mine about the knock-off eBay Tangles: they work just like a Tangle Creations-packaged Tangle, but they’re lighter, looser and clickier.) For stimmers without a lot of money, though, these things are well worth checking out, especially if you don’t mind something clickier and louder (fidget cubes particularly).

If you need more help with finding sources closer to your state, please let us know. I’ve probably forgotten something, but my wrist is starting to hurt so I’ll end this one here! Being Victorian, I have more resources than many other Australian stimmers, but availability varies so widely from state to state, at times it’s like being in another country. I know a lot of what I take for granted just isn’t available elsewhere.

- Mod K.A.

[stimtoybox]

This is really dumb, but are there any fidgets or something that can help me to, I guess, stop leg bouncing? My mom gets really annoyed with it so I feel like I should try to find something else to annoy her less.

No question is dumb, anon! You’rewanting to find a way to fidget or stim that fulfills your needs while notantagonising the people around you. It’s an important thing to figure out,since these sorts of compromises are ones we all need to make as stimmers atsome point, be they with other stimmers or the people in our lives.

(I am never here for getting topeople to stop stimming. Sometimes, though, while other people’s responses toour stimming are based in ableism, it is easier and safer to compromise andfind an alternative stim, especially if that means we get to keep onstimming. Of course, our stims can genuinely annoy others, especially otherND/disabled folk. I regularly have to turn my back on the person sitting in theseat beside me on the train because of the constant flickering of theirfingers/hands as they use the touchscreen on their mobile phone. Typing is the worst;it feels like someone driving spikes through my eyeballs to watch, even out ofthe corners of my eyes, yet it’s a common, everyday activity. For the samereasons, I need people to keep flickering hand movements, common in many stims,to a minimum around me. So sometimes we absolutely do have to compromise inorder to keep stimming, and I’m always happy to have more conversations aboutthis.)

The more difficult thing about thisis that there’s a lot of different stims for hands and less for the feetand legs, so this is harder to redirect. You can try to play with a Tangle, forexample, but you might just find yourself twisting a Tangle while continuing tobounce your legs. Mod Rainbow recently wrote a fabulous post on feet and legsdesk stimming, and this is well worth checking out.

I highlight, from their post, two things that might best work for you:

The first is the rolling of a prickle/massage ball under your foot (also see this post). This will allow you to move your leg back and forth while also giving you the tactile stimming of the ball’s texture. It might be less distracting/annoying than the leg bouncing.

The second - although this will only work if you have a chair with legs - is the tying of a bouncy band, or something stretchy like a TheraBand, to the legs, giving you something to swing your foot against. This might control and direct your movements, making them smaller/less obtrusive.

You might also consider something like a massage ball or brush for running down your legs, say if you’re sitting curled up on a couch or armchair while watching TV or reading: the added sensory input might reduce the need to bounce.

You might also consider seeing if a weighted blanket or lap pad works for you, too, because the weight/pressure stimming might (please note that this doesn’t work for everyone) give enough proprioceptive input that you don’t need to swing.

If you think that hand stims and fidgets are an alternative you wish to explore, I’m going to link you to a few previous posts: cheap fidget toys | household fidgets | popular toys | categories of toys | my recs for a stim toy kit | why you should vary your stimming.

I’m a little pressed for time today, anon (I have a guest, @ambiguouspieces, staying with me) so I’m going to ask for folks with good ideas to help me out by commenting away, as my brain isn’t wholly focused on you. I apologise for that, and I’ll add comments to this post as I can. If I come up with any other ideas over the next few days, I’ll also add to this post myself!

I hope this gives you somewhere to start, anon, and I’m sorry for making you wait so long for a response!

- Mod K.A.

[stimtoybox]

The Textured Ball Post

(Or Part Two of this lovely anon’s ask!)

This is a fun one. I like balls for stimming and I like texture, so combining the two together makes me a happy stimmer!

There’s many different sorts of balls - sports balls, dryer balls, massage balls, mini prickle/hedge balls, juggling balls, pet toy balls. I’m not going to bother with untextured balls (like bouncy balls or plain stress balls) but there’s still a lot of options for texture seekers. If you have the ability to access offline stores and a little bit of time (and some degree of tolerance of other people), it’s absolutely possible to find many things for $2 or $3 AUD a ball. Only a few items in the offline list cost more than $6 AUD each and may have cheaper options elsewhere than the links below. US folks should often pay even less!

Some of these will be more textured than others. I consider balls like the massage balls, prickle balls, plastic dryer balls and hedge balls to be really textured, and I recommend them to anyone after pressure or massage-like stimming. Other balls, like the crocheted stress ball, are more subtly textured.

(I apologise for the lack of prices. My hands are terrible tonight.)

Offline Textured Ball Sources

Department and dollar stores are, honestly, a world of ball awesomeness. Not every store will have every ball (although K-Mart here in Australia is really good, and Daiso is fabulous) but it’s usually worth the look. I’d try the discount sorts of department stores, as they’re far more likely to have these things and cost less.

(I would like to compile a list of discount dollar and department stores by country, in order to help folks who can’t purchase online access affordable stim toys. If my followers would comment and let me know the international equivalents to stores like K-Mart, Daiso and The Reject Shop, I’d be super grateful!)

Sports section: Nobby Ball (a plastic ball, a little smaller than basketball sized, with knobs) | Peanut-Shaped Massage Ball | Mini Massage Ball (my post here) | Soft Touch Massage Ball | Hand Therapy Balls (lightly textured) | Active Massage Ball (want - this looks amazing) | Prickle Sports Balls (and here)

Toy section: Woven Plastic Bouncy Ball | Juggling Balls | Light Up Spike Ball (these are in every dollar shop in Australia) | Inflatable Plush Balls | Rubber Frond Balls | Spiky Bouncy Balls | Porcupine Balls | Mesh Juggling/Tossing Balls | Puffer Balls

Pet section: Spot Ball With Bell (a thicker pet-ball-sized nobby ball) | Lattice Chew Dog Ball (a ball with a plastic lattice cover) | Pet Spiky Balls

Party section: Mini Sponge Balls | Cat Toy Balls | Wooly Ball (mini prickle/hedge balls, my post here)

Homewares section: Plastic Dryer Balls (1, 2)

Online Textured Ball Sources

(Note: some of these are expensive, especially once you add in shipping! Most links go to US vendors, but there’s a few Aussie and UK vendors as well. Many of these balls are going to be available at multiple vendors, so if I haven’t covered your region, I recommend doing a Google search for the product name: Google should bring up stockists located in your country.)

- Blast O Fun Ball (review | Children’s Therapy Store | ebay | The Therapy Store)

- Wool Dryer Balls (review | Amazon)

- Whisk Balls (review | Amazon)

- DNA Molecule Stress Ball (review | Amazon | ebay | Fidget Club)

- Crocheted Stress Ball (review | Stimtastic | The Therapy Store)

- Mini Hedge/Porcupine/Prickle Balls (Stimtastic | The Therapy Store)

- Weighted Crochet Stress Balls (Stimtastic)

- Puffer Ball (Stimtastic | The Therapy Store)

- Koosh Ball (Fidget Club | The Therapy Store: 1, 2 | Amazon: 1, 2, 3, 4 | The Therapy Shoppe)

- Bandy Ball [a thicker Koosh Ball] (Fidget Club | The Therapy Store)

- Glitter Bead Ball (Fidget Club | The Therapy Shoppe | Amazon | eSpecial Needs)

- Rubbabu Stress Balls [flocked stress balls; not in stock at all links] (Fidget Club | Village Toys | Amazon | Curious Fox Company)

- Honeycomb Ball (The Therapy Store)

- Massage Ball (The Therapy Store | The Therapy Shoppe: 1, 2, 3 | Amazon)

- Flashing Spiky Ball (The Therapy Store | Amazon | Target US)

- Cronch Slime Stress Ball (Ca5ey on Storenvy)

There will be balls I’ve left out: you might also wish to check out the ball section on the toys tag page for reviews and more-detailed posts on sources and pricing.

Good luck with finding the right ball for you, anon! If you need different vendors or further information, please let me know!

[stimtoybox]

[image description: four stim toys sitting on a round red and green watermelon slice pillow. Toys: a purple prickle/massage ball in a clear plastic bag reading “active and co mini massage ball”; a white plastic egg-shaped light with a label reading “party LED Light Up Egg”; a clear box of eight rainbow makeup sponge wedges in yellow, orange, blue, green, purple, dark pink, red and light pink, text reading “rainbow wedges”; and a blue pet brush mitt, looking like a soft plastic curry brush, attached to a blue backcard reading “pet haven pet brush mitt”.]

Latest stim toy find round up at K-Mart and The Reject Shop!

K-Mart:

Mini Massage Ball, $2 AUD. You know I love my prickle balls! This one is very hard, so hard I can’t depress the bristles or the ball with my hands, so it’s no good for squeezing. It massages well, especially if you like the harsher texture on your hands as you roll it. It really shines, though, if you put it under your foot and roll it back and forth - it focuses my usual foot-swinging/rocking at my computer chair in addition to the texture massaging my foot. I mean to get another one of these so I can use them under both feet at once for the ultimate desk-working stimmy heaven. Seriously good and inexpensive!

(I suffer from cold feet, especially when I’m sitting still. I’m thinking that something that makes me move my feet, in addition to massaging them for blood flow, might actually help with this.)

LED Light Up Egg, on clearance for $1 AUD. (Not available online.) This worked in store - a soft glowing light that changes colour - and promptly died when I bought it home. It wasn’t expensive, at least, but I’m not impressed, either, because the battery compartment is difficult to access without screwdrivers and I don’t have the right batteries to replace it with. I’d prefer a light-up toy that uses standard AAA or AA batteries.

Rainbow Wedges, on clearance for $2 AUD. (Also not available online.) These are nice and soft and bright. I like makeup sponges as fidgets because they’re easy to stow everywhere and pretty unobtrusive.

The Reject Shop:

Pet Brush Mitt, $2 AUD ($4 AUD online). This is basically a cheap curry brush, designed for grabbing dead hairs and massaging while it does it. It’s soft, it sits comfortably on my hand and it’s great for running over limbs or as a scalp massager. It’s actually better than commerical human scalp massagers/scalp brushes (as a short-haired person I’ve several) because it’s softer and much bigger. I really like this and would recommend it over a human brush any day.

[stimtoybox]

[image description: yellow medium-sized prickle ball. Second photo shows the ball compared to two tennis-ball-sized red and green prickle balls for scale.]

I really like my prickle balls. So when I saw that Daiso (most things $2.80 AU each, including these balls) had larger prickle balls, I had to get one.

The prickles are larger and leave significant indents in your skin when you catch and roll it. As someone who likes that rougher, pain-edged sensation - I’m definitely a heavy-touch autistic - especially as a distraction for when I’m in pain, this really works for me.

The ball is sized about halfway between a tennis ball and a basketball and available in yellow or pink.

(All Daiso’s prickle and sports balls can be re-inflated with a bicycle pump, by the way! So don’t be afraid to squish them!)

[stimtoybox]

[Image description: two pink themed stim toy packs from Therapy Shoppe. 1 - pink Noise Putty, pink Play Foam, pink Dino Putty, and pink Bouncing Putty. 2 - a dark pink brain noodle, pink-purple metallic textured Tangle Jr, pink prickle/ inside-out ball, and a pink flying fingers fidget.]

These made me think of @ambiguouspieces!

Pretty pink putty kit: $7.99 US

Think pink fidget toys kit: $9.99 US

(Considering that in Australia the metallic textured Tangle Jr retails for $10 AU on its own, this seems like a really good price to me. Sadly, international shipping will likely make it less so.)